Coffee beverages have been prepared as a roast and ground product since at least the 13th century. Coffee manufacturers attempt to control the sensorial impact of coffee to produce different or better products, which are then marketed to attract consumers who would be interested in that specific product. Typically, the basic roasting conditions of roast time and temperature are used to influence the well-known coffee characteristics. In general, coffee beans roasted at lower temperatures for a shorter period of time result in a lighter, more aromatic coffee, while coffee beans subjected to a combination of higher temperatures and a longer roasting time tend to be darker and stronger. The final taste and aroma of coffee is dependent also on the blend of green coffee origins. Most dramatic is the contrast between strong Robusta and complex, clean Arabica. In addition, there are more subtle differences within each coffee genus.
Conventionally, one describes the finished coffee product in terms of the degree of roast and the blend of coffee bean origins, since these are widely accepted as the primary drivers of consumer liking, i.e., taste preference. An illustration of this is the labeling of coffee products as light, medium or dark and possibly an indication of the origin of the coffee beans on their respective packaging. Through this information, the consumer makes a choice of the coffee that best suits his or her taste preference. Some consumers will prefer a low degree of roast while others will prefer a much darker roast product.
The principal consumer sensory characteristics of coffee are its roast quality and acidity as determined by consumer sensory evaluations of numerous diverse coffee types. An extensive independent study was conducted and published in an article by the European Sensory Network Food Research Association entitled, “A European Sensory and Consumer Study—A Case Study On Coffee” by J. A. McEwan. In this study, other attributes were described which play a minor role in characterizing the coffee flavor.
A widely accepted common coffee nomenclature has been developed over the history of coffee tasting to describe various flavor attributes of coffee. This common coffee nomenclature is used by experts for consistent coffee description and for the contrasting of individual coffees. For example, coffees may be described as grassy, green, citrus, floral, fruity, cereal, roasted, caramel, bitter, woody and winey, as well as other attributes.
In recent years, coffee manufactures have added additional flavors to coffee products. The additional flavors allow a certain amount of innovation within a coffee category that is traditionally restricted to its ingredients and processing, e.g. roasting conditions.
There are many instances where specialty or gourmet coffees have been produced through the addition of additional flavors to the coffee product to produce what is referred to as “flavored coffee”. For example, the addition of hazelnut flavor to coffee results in a distinctly hazelnut flavored coffee. Such flavored coffees are positioned as coffee with a non-coffee flavor, and have become popular with consumers looking for a product displaying extra flavor attributes not intrinsic to coffee itself. Typical flavors that have been added to coffee include hazelnut, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, Irish cream, toffee, orange, amaretto and marshmallow. Each flavor adds its own characteristic additional non-coffee attribute to the coffee product.
Coffee itself is a complex product which includes many compounds. Of these flavor compounds, only a few have been previously considered relevant to the taste and aroma of the final coffee beverage. Of the previously considered relevant compounds, they can be classified into groups by the flavor attribute with which they are associated when present within coffee beverages. An example of a flavor group is roasted-nutty. Coffee manufacturers change the flavor of coffee by varying the blend and roast conditions. As a consequence, the levels of coffee flavor compounds vary from product to product.
When processing coffee beans with the intent of positively affecting the intensity of one flavor attribute, commonly, there is a negative affect on at least one other flavor attribute. This can be linked to the chemistry of the coffee flavor compounds, which undergo different chemical reactions depending on the roast conditions.
One naturally occurring component in brewed coffee component is 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol. 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol is described as having a fruity floral character. Previously 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol was not believed to be of any “major” importance to coffee flavor and/or consumer liking. See, e.g. Blank-I; Sen-A; Grosch-W, “Potent odorants of the roasted powder and brew of Arabica coffee” Zeitschrift-fuer-Lebensmittel-Untersuchung-und-Forschung; 195 (3) 239-245, 1992 who assess 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol as being unimportant in the overall contribution to roasted coffee flavor.
Typically, 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol is present in roast and ground coffee product in an amount of between 30 μgkg−1 and 4700 μgkg−1, and in brewed coffee, 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol is present in an amount of 1 μgl−1 and about 30 μgl−1 (when brewed in a drip filter using 50 g roast and ground coffee and 1 liter of water). It should be noted that the amount of 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol in roast and ground coffee depends on the type of coffee bean used and its roasting conditions and the amount in brewed coffee also depends on the brewing conditions. Since a fruity floral character was not deemed desirable in a traditional coffee flavored beverage, additional 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol was not added to the natural occurring 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol levels in coffee.
Further, often, when varying one specific flavor attribute with the intention of optimizing the coffee product for one specific target group of consumers having a particular taste preference, the result is to affect another flavor attribute negatively with regard to taste preferences of that target group. In this way, certain flavors are said to be “coupled”, and achieving certain levels of desirable attributes frequently requires compromising on undesirable attributes. For example, a coffee roasted under relatively extreme conditions produces desirable strong, dark, roasted flavors, but usually at the cost of introducing an undesirable level of bitterness. The coupled behavior hampers the extent to which a coffee can be made more acceptable to consumers. Accordingly, roast coffee flavors have long since been considered already optimized for consumer liking. Consequently, only minimal gains have been made recently.
What is needed in the art is a coffee which has enhanced natural coffee flavor appealing to a consumer's taste without introducing undesirable flavors.